Carbon Monosulphide, CS

Carbon Monosulphide, CS is described as resulting on passing carbon disulphide vapour over spongy platinum, pumice stone or red-hot charcoal. It is also formed by the action of the silent electric discharge on carbon disulphide or on a mixture of the latter with either hydrogen or carbon monoxide, thus:

CS2 + H2 = CS + H2S, CS2 + CO = CS + COS.

Thiocarbonyl chloride reacts rapidly with nickel carbonyl at the ordinary temperature according to the equation:

xSCl2 + xNi(CO)4 = xNiCl2 + 4xCO + (CS)x.

After the nickel chloride has been extracted from the solid product by water, a brown substance remains which has the empirical formula CS, but which, on account of its being a non-volatile solid, must be a polymer, (CS)x. According to Dewar and Jones, carbon monosulphide is an endothermic gas which is condensable by liquid air and which rapidly polymerises to (CS)x, at atmospheric temperature.